1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for providing a remote control service to devices in a home network, and more particularly, to an apparatus, system and method for providing a remote control service to remotely control and manage devices connected to a home network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, household appliances and devices are classified into information devices (including personal computers, faxes, scanners and printers, etc.), audio/video devices (including TV sets, set-top boxes, DVDs, VCRs, audio systems, camcorders and home game machines, etc.), control devices (including coffee makers, electric rice cookers, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and cameras), and dummy devices including remote controllers, interphones, sensors and lighting equipment. These household devices are connected to subnets including phone-lines, a wireless LAN, a Bluetooth network, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an IEEE 1394 network and power-lines depending on its physical characteristics.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a typical related art home network. A phone 120a, a notebook computer 120b, a fax machine 120c and a computer 120d are connected to the phone-lines 120 to construct an independent network. A notebook computer 130a and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) 130b are connected to the wireless LAN or Bluetooth network 130. A computer 140a, a printer 140b and a scanner 140c are connected to the USB and a TV 150a, a camcorder 150b and an audio system 150c, 150d are connected to the IEEE 1394 network as a protocol for audio/video system. Also, control devices including a coffee maker 160a, an electric rice cooker 160b, a refrigerator 160c and a washing machine 160d are connected to the power-lines 160. These subnets 120, 130, 140, 150, 160 form the home network, which is interconnected using a connecting device 170 like a bridge. A gateway 110 plays a role of a pathway interconnecting each device existing in the subnets and external networks.
However, the conventional networks including the phone-lines 120 and power-lines 160 and new networks including the Bluetooth network and the wireless LAN 130 co-exist in the household devices, and each device is operated by its own hardware and software platform, which may be different from each other. Subsequently, it is not easy to construct a home network in single system. Therefore, it is suggested as a home network construction method that a related art virtual computing environment referred to as middleware be implemented in each device dispersed over a house, and application programs be provided over the middleware.
In the related art, various services are provided for controlling household devices within and without the house. Remote control to the household devices is performed by direct access to those equipped with a network connecting device via a gateway of the home network.
However, the related art has various problems and disadvantages. For example, but not by way of limitation, the related art method has at least the drawback of accommodating devices only equipped with the related art network-connecting device.
In addition, the related art middleware only controls the same kind of devices having specific similar characteristics using an independent mechanism. Accordingly, it is not possible to control household devices having substantially diverse characteristics. Thus, related art middleware alone cannot provide remote control and management services to overall household devices.